Help me pick a new RF to 40lbs convertible

DD is 34 months, 32 lbs, and about 36 inches tall. Currently she's riding RF in a boulevard with a 33 RF limit in my 2000 Civic Sedan and riding RF in a boulevard with a 35 RF limit in DH's 2005 Civic Sedan. I'd say she has at least 2 inches of height left in the seats.

I'm 35 weeks pregnant with #2, who will initially ride in a snugride. So, I'll need new convertibles in the next year anyway. I'll put DD#2 in DD's boulevards and keep DD#1 RF till 40 lbs, then I might FF her in the boulevards or who knows what...

So, it looks like I need to buy one RF to 40 lbs seat more or less now to replace the boulevard in my car. I love our boulevards. We'll wait to buy the second until we're ready to put DD#2 in a convertible or DD#1 is hitting 35 lbs, whichever comes first.

Money is tight right now (paying out of pocket for a homebirth), but I don't want to buy a seat I'll regret or simply hate. We may very well put the RF to 35 lbs boulevard in my car and the new seat in DH's, but we use his car for all long road trips (generally 6+ a year that are 6 hours each way) as well as shorter "long" drives, so we don't want a crummy seat in his car.

FWIW, I'm 4ft 10 in and DH is 5ft 10 in. We want to be at least able to have him able to drive his car and ride passenger in mine, though really we'd prefer him able to drive or ride passenger in either one. We're hoping to buy a minivan (hopefully an oddyssey) in about a year if that makes a difference.

So, My Ride, Air Protect, Radian 65, Radian 80, Radian XT??? I'm not too familiar with the different Radian options. Can you talk me through the differences in the 3 versions? I was thinking we'd do an AP, but now I'm considering a Radian... Then, of course, my pocket book would prefer a My Ride, but I don't think I really want one. Which should I get? What are the pros and cons of each?

The radian puzzles (fits) side by side with the britax convertibles VERY well.

The only two radians I would look at are the radian 65 and the radian XT. Most kids just won't make it past 65 lbs by height in the radian, and the shell is the same for both the 65 and 80. The XT had added headwings, and the harness is slightly shorter than the 65. The 65 is much more affordable, though, and I would probably choose the 65 over the XT, especially if I was using it in the center of a vehicle..

The My Ride has a shorter shell, and is wider. It's a nice seat- but if you thing you'll need to do three across at any point in time it'll be difficult. The Air Protect also looks very nice, but we haven't seen it so to say anything beyond that would be pure speculation. The shell looks very tall, which is also very nice.

The Air Protect isn't out yet, and I don't think you can wait for it. Your DD is very close to the limit. I don't have personal experience with the MR, so I'll let someone else talk more about it.

The Radian is pretty tall (the tallest of the three you listed, as far as we know) so it will last a long time by height. The rear facing recline angle is pretty fixed. You can tweak it a little by using certain tricks, but not too much. Because of this, it takes up a lot of room front to back.

I have a 2002 Civic sedan. The Radian works RF or FF in any of the 3 rear seats. When they're facing the same direction, you probably will be able to get the Boulevard and Radian side by side, leaving a seat empty in the back. If you put the Radian RFing center, it comes up over and between the front seats, so it doesn't force you to move them up much if at all. Outboard, you do have to move the front seat up some. You'll probably be comfortable but your DH probably won't be.

All three Radians have the same basic design, the same basic shell. They all install the same way, and all three will be outgrown by height at the same time. The Radian65 is the most basic model (but it's still excellent). It has a 65 pound FFing limit. The Radian80 is made of a different steel alloy, giving it a higher (80 pound) FFing limit. It comes with the infant insert. The XT adds headwings to the 80, and also comes with the infant insert and one carry strap. Each of the models comes in its own cover choices, which you can't get on any of the other models.

Oh, and the Radian tethers RFing, which the other two seats don't. There's a great tether point in your cars that I can help you find, if you need. You pop a plastic piece off the seat track leg.

If you go with the Radian 65 it is actually a little cheaper than the air protect will be. The My Ride seems like a great seat but I bet it won't offer much growth height wise since she is so close to the top of the Blvd's. If it were me I would probably get a couple 65's and call it good I wish my dd was under 40lbs!

Ok, well this weekend we're installing the snugride in both cars. While we're at it, we'll install the 33lbs Boulevard FF in DH's car and the 35lbs Boulevard RF in mine. We have no trips planned soon, so we'll try to stick with my car for any drives DD is taking, but we want a car seat for DD#1 in DH's car just in case.

I think I'm going to wait until the AP comes out to make my final decision on what seat to buy. It'll buy us a bit of time to come up with the funds for the seats too. Actually, I have registries at both Target and BRU for DD#2, and I think I'll add both the Radian and the AP to them so I can save the 10% on whichever I chose

Thanks for the advise. Any other feedback is quite welcome.